Sunday, February 25, 2007

Shots from the west side of our house in the basement. We have a split level so the window is about half way up the wall. Gotta love drifting snow!

Can't tell how much snow we got due to the drifting but it was at least 6 inches. I was insnae and drove to Mpls for a friends bachelorette last night. What is normally a 25 minute drive was closer to 45 minutes since no one could see the lanes and 94 was snow covered. Luckily I didn't see any accidents.

Friday, February 23, 2007

This year I decided to give up chips for lent. All chips. In the past I have focused on a specific kind of chip, usually based on an obsession of sorts (one year it was Pringles Light - yum). My latest obsession has been Cheez-Its. The baked cheesy saturated fat goodness that calls to me every time I even consider walking near Vendo-Land. This is a very hard thing to avoid since the women's bathroom is right near Vendo-Land and while the pregnancy bathroom breaks haven't yet gotten out of control I know it will in the near term. This year I fear that if I do not give up all sorts of chips I will find myself replacing my beloved Cheez-Its with something else (Baked Lays, Fritos, Cheetoes, etc.). Cold turkey on the chips. Pete couldn't come up with anything he wanted to give up but finally settled on ice cream. One year he gave up coffee - the year I was working at the coffee shop. He would come and smell my hair after I got off shift and ask me what beans I measured out before leaving. I swear I felt him salivating some times on top of my head. Last year he gave up chewing tobacco (whoo-hoo!). Those really are his two major dependencies so he was left trying to find something he felt would be an actual sacrifice. We have decided that during this time of roller coaster pregnancy hormones it might not be the best decision to have him give up coffee again. He was hard enough to deal with the first go around.

We took some pictures of my belly this week which I will post this weekend. Sometimes it feels huge but when I look at the clothing I got from my sister and Robin I realize I am nowhere near huge yet. I have gained just over 10 pounds (cripes!) so I know I have a long way to go. I can also tell you where quite a bit of that weight has landed. Made an emergency trip to Victoria's Secret this week and found myself making a purchase on some goods I never thought I would see myself wearing. Needless to say the hubby is pleased by this by-product of pregnancy. And they will only continue to grow!

We had spring for a few days this week - glorious 40 degree weather. We lost nearly all of our snow and it was wonderful to smell the earth again. There is something about everything being covered for several months and the smell of the thaw. Earlier this week I saw 5 male cardinals sitting on the deck eating some seeds we had thrown out earlier in the winter. They were so excited and chirp, chirp, chirping away. But, as any good Minnesota native knows, spring isn't really here until after state hockey and basketball tourneys. And we're under a winter storm watch at the moment. Rain, ice and snow - perhaps 8 inches by the end of the weekend. Oh well... I know we need the rain/snow because we are so behind so I'm going to grin and bear it and patiently wait for spring.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Twice this weekend I heard "well I wondered but didn't want to say anything" when I mentioned to people that I was preggers. I'm showing a bit but unless you already know one would assume it is just me getting lazy and not exercising. Both of the people I heard this from hadn't seen me in several months/years so I'm not surprised they didn't want to say anything for fear that I would kill them. My weight obsession is well known in my circle of friends and no one wants to be the person to ask me if I am preggers without having a good idea that is the case.

My biggest issue is the 'other area' weight gain. If I could keep everything in the front of me I would be just fine but I gotta say, I'm not liking the extra weight that is finding its way to my hips and butt. Pete says it's all there to help me in the end, without it I couldn't handle pregnancy. I say that's bullshit and he is just trying to make me feel better. Needless to say I worked out last week and started lifting again (nothing too heavy so don't worry!).

I was also very surprised this weekend by how tired I was with the business of the weekend. My friend Jen got married on Saturday and I was one of the personal attendants. I was running around helping her pre-ceremony and pinning what seemed like a million corsages on people. I danced for quite a while at the reception but started to get a wee bit worried about the babe towards 11pm. I realized that I was dancing like I wasn't preggers. Jumping around and generally getting down (to the best of my ability). Was I doing any damage to the babe? Was he/she getting knocked about in the womb? I'm sure the babe was OK but nonetheless, it made me sit down and calm down. Pete wasn't with me (don't get me started on why he wasn't there) so I headed home by myself trying to repeat "everything is OK, everything is OK" over and over. I left the door open so Tabitha could come sleep with me, hoping it would help calm me down. I woke up on Sunday sore, tired and feeling like I was hungover. Knowing I didn't have anything with alcohol in it I came to the conclusion that I was dehydrated and started slamming water.

Interesting new development: my sense of smell is getting stronger and stronger. No aversions yet (which I hear is very common) but everything is much more potent.

Monday, February 12, 2007

My hubby was gone this weekend, he was off on his snowmobile somewhere in eastern WI, western MI. So Tabitha and I had a girls weekend. Whenever he leaves for a long weekend, Tabby and I spend serious quality time together - and she gets to sleep in our bed (she is otherwise banned from the bedroom, bathroom, baby's room, kitchen, because of his issue with cat hair - like he doesn't shed...). Anyway, not so when it is just her and me.

We spent the time watching TV, reading on the couch and taking naps. All around very nice and relaxing.

Attended a benefit on Saturday night for an old co-worker's husband who was recently diagnosed with ALS. Earlier I had met with another old co-worker/friend at the gallery where her wedding will be held (I am shooting the wedding) and she asked if I wanted to go. Having never been to a benefit I thought, why the heck not. They are holding a benefit because for many years he was a private business owner but he sold the business in 2005 because it wasn't profitable and started to look for work in corporate America. He wasn't having the best of luck and several months later we learned he has ALS. The company she works for is small (20 people) so the benefits are OK, not great. Needless to say, things are very tight and they are having trouble covering medical expenses for his treatment.

We didn't do the dinner ($150/plate) but donated some money for the raffle and toured the silent auction. Over 250 people (!) RSVP'd yes for dinner - and all the food was donated so the money is going straight to the family. As with all the money generated from the silent auction. They had some pretty amazing stuff in the auction so I am sure it generated some bidding wars. I had my camera on hand from earlier so I snapped a few shots and am sending them to my old co-worker (along with a donation to the family). I sure hope it all turned out well for them.

It was overwhelming to see the number of people who came out to support this great couple. It makes me teary just thinking about it all. We left when everyone sat down to dinner and I have to admit, part of me was relieved. I don't know how well I would have handled the speeches and the emotion that I knew would come later on. I wear my heart on my sleeve without having pregnancy hormones coursing through my system - I can only imagine how much of a weeper I would have been had we stayed much longer. I know it is hard for my friend and it just makes my heart hurt to think about what lies ahead for her, her husband and three kids. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

I used to watch the Grammys. I used to know who most of the bands/people were when they got on stage. I have noticed over the last several years that I have no desire to watch this award show. One would think with my past obsession with music and my dream of owning my own music club I would be a bit more interested. But I'm not. We flipped over to the show once or twice - I was about to flip the channel back to Discovery Channel when I saw the Dixie Chicks get up to receive the award for Not Ready to Make Nice. I mentioned to Pete that Greg Louris had written a song for them on this album and thought maybe it was him walking up with the girls. While it wasn't Greg, it was another wonderful Minneapolis man - Dan Wilson. I was so happy to see him up there - my Minneapolis pride was bursting! And of course, I had to explain to my music-illiterate husband the previous Dan Wilson outings and the shows I went to at First-Ave.

So, I'm not sure if this is a sign that I am getting old or if it has more to do with the fact that the Grammy Awards don't really focus on my type of music. You don't see a lot of small venue, bar bands make it to the Grammys. And when they do, people tend to assume they have sold out (think Soul Asylum). And I'm OK with that.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

I wasn't going to do it. I swore I wouldn't post anything about the subzero weather. But I can't take it anymore! Every year I ask myself why in heaven's name I live in this tundra. I don't mind a little cold weather - it's when every morning for several days in a row start below zero. I'm a baby, I know.

The hardest part for me is walking into work. I live only a couple miles from my office so my car is just warm enough by the time I park it. I also work for a very large company (10,000 or so people on the main campus) so parking lots fill up quickly. The walk to the main doors is the worst. I'm not sure if it is how the wind whips around the buildings or what exactly creates this vortex of cold but it is wicked - the so cold your eyes water type of walk.

Yesterday we got a wee bit of snow and it is so cold in our garage that the snow on top of my car did not melt yet. Yikes. Today we're expected to get to a whopping 10' - it's going to feel like a heat wave compared to the -10 I drove in this morning.

Monday, February 05, 2007

Can we tell I'm bored yet? I've not posted in several days and this is post #4 today. Whew. Just found this fun on Sarillia. I've been playing around with my name. Holly alone doesn't work (not enough to work with) but my first name and maiden name make up some great combos, not to mention when I throw in my middle name. I might have to add in my confirmation name just for giggles. Next I will check the potential baby names in the mix just to be sure we don't set the kid up for failure.

Last weekend I went out to see if there were any maternity pants/jeans out there I could begin to wear now through the end of the pregnancy. I don't want to spend a lot of money on clothing that I will wear for a mere 9 months. Heck, I still have pants that I bought 4 years ago that I wear (yes, I know, someday you WILL see me on TLC's What Not to Wear).

My sister gave me all of her maternity clothing which has been a big help. This way I don't have to go out and buy a lot of casual work clothing. She had her babies in the summer as well so her clothing choices align perfectly with our due date. However, she is a half a foot taller so I need to shorten everything. Even the one pair I bought are too long (the story of my life). Mom came up on Saturday to help me shorten my pants. I am not much of a seamstress. The stretchy material kept bunching up on me and I quickly became frustrated. Thank goodness I have a mother with the patience of a saint. I think I should be good as long as I find a couple of skirts for the warmer summer months.

One tip I have for any mom who can swing it ~ borrow as many items as you can from friends, family or go to the Goodwill if you don't have any issues with wearing pre-worn clothing. I went to a hip store that I would love to afford but am unwilling to pay $105 for a pair of jeans. I am obviously not their target customer as I refuse to pay that much for a pair of jeans that I will wear for years, much less 9 months. No way. I have to pay for new carpet, paint, diapers, college degrees, who knows how much other stuff in the next 18 years. I'll save my money and go buy a pair of $14.99 jeans on sale at Old Navy thank you.

We ordered a pizza (sausage and green olive) from our favorite neighborhood pizzaria and settled in to watch the game. I made it through most of the game last night, below are some thoughts:

I was surprised that on the first play of the game Indy couldn't cover Devin Hester. One would think that the kickoff coverage team would have worked on nothing else for the past two weeks than to cover that man. I thought the game was going to swing in Chicago's favor at that point since I wasn't sure how Indy would handle the rain.

The number of turnovers in the first half felt very reminiscent of the Saints game against the Bears (which the Bears dominated in the end).

Brian Urlacher is the heart of the Bears defense. I swear I could feel his energy through the television set.

Where in the world was Rex Grossman? In the third quarter it felt like he hadn't even been on the field. Most of this game from the wise decision not to throw the ball down field very often due to the weather but it felt like he was a non-issue in the game. Which proved to be accurate in the end.

I wouldn't call myself a Prince fan per se, but I do like him. I thought he did a great halftime show, one of the few I have actually stayed to watch. Pete mentioned at one point that it looked like he was actually having fun and enjoying himself. Always the showman, he didn't let the rain get him down.

The commercials were OK but nothing stellar. Does one department of CBS have to pay another department of CBS for all the advertising they did during the Superbowl? Are they the filler when spots are left open because not everyone wants to pay $2.6MM to have a 30 second spot? My personal favorite was the animated Coke commercial. I know it isn't on any 'best ad' list but I liked the message of the commercial and I liked the animation.

I crashed not long after the Colts intercepted Grossman in the fourth resulting in the 82-yard touchdown. Pete woke me up with a few seconds left in the game so I could see the celebration begin. I was glad to see Tony Dungy win ~ I believe he deserved to win based on his character and he is a bright spot in the NFL. I wish there were more coaches like Tony & Lovie, the type who seem to show their players that respect gets you farther than idiocy. However, Lovie did let Tank Johnson back on the field...